Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Antonius Block As this film clocks in at three full hours, one reviewer likened it to a "huge, lumbering, Paleozoic beast with a heart", and it's a great analogy. It's a chronicle of the career of showman and theater producer Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr, and the highlights are the musical numbers and showy costumes by Adrian in the middle third of the movie which are truly over-the-top. They're also apparently true to the extravagance of his Ziegfeld Follies, which ran on Broadway from 1907 to 1931. The number ""A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" is particularly stunning, with the camera going up a lavish, revolving spiral staircase adorned with beautiful men and women, dancers, and performances of classical music along the way. Google it and be suitably impressed for eight minutes. I also liked seeing the tap dance routine from Ray Bolger (the scarecrow from 'The Wizard of Oz'), featuring a few splits that would undoubtedly be quite painful to the average man.Of the cast, William Powell delivers a nice performance in the title role, capturing both the taste and generosity of Ziegfeld, and his relationship with his rival (played by Frank Morgan) is touching. The two of them imbue this biography with class, and through sheer force of will in the production, one can see why the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. I have to say though, it had too much detail, and for me the first and third hours were too long. Myrna Loy doesn't even make her appearance as Billie Burke until the 2:10 point or so, and her part is rather modest. Luise Rainer plays his first wife, the performer Anna Held, and turns in a mediocre performance, so it's harder to understand her Oscar. Lastly, the film lacks an edge. Ziegfeld was a notorious womanizer, and while that's alluded to, it's all pretty innocent, lacking a certain zest, authenticity, or both. Emotions in general are all muted and glossed over, making us aware of the movie being a theatrical production of its own. You can certainly do worse, but I would only recommend the film with reservations.

oOoBarracuda The film to take home Oscar's top prize for 1936, was Robert Z. Leonard's The Great Ziegfeld. The better-get-comfortable nearly 3 hour biopic tells the story of the roller coaster career of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. From humble beginnings as a sideshow barker, Flo, as he is often called, believes he is destined for greatness. The Great Ziegfeld brings together the iconic team of William Powell and Myrna Loy, in their fourth of 14 films together, each of which, including this one, proves to be a treat.Continuously losing audiences to his carnival neighbor, Jack Billings (Frank Morgan), Florenz hatches a plan to fill the tents with his audience, and steal Jack's girlfriend in the process. After finally tasting success at his carnival shows, Flo decides he wants bigger and better successes. He transitions to putting on extravagant shows with hundreds of beautiful dancing and singing girls. Ziegfeld changes the game by seeking out beautiful, yet everyday women, to glorify the American girl. His plan eventually catches on and he enjoys several successes. Being a poor money manager, and consistently purchasing lavish gifts for his actresses, Flo is often broke and left with only the option of asking Jack Billings for loans. Flo is always given the loans because he is sure to put on a grand show, in the process of procuring the money however, Flo always manages to take something from Jack personally. A constant philanderer, always moving on to the next attraction, didn't sit well with the first main attraction he married, French singing sensation Anna Held (Luise Rainer); she would eventually seek divorce. When his pitch to feature not just one leading lady but dozens upon dozens of women finally caught on with Jack Billings and the producer he was working for, Flo managed 24 years of extravagance with Ziegfeld's Follies. Still never learning how to manage his money, this time being responsible for a wife, singer and actress Billie Burke (Myrna Loy) and a daughter, Ziegfeld appears to be washed up. Guaranteeing one more revival, and promising to have 4 shows successfully showing at the same time, Ziegfeld pulls it off and invests his show's money in the stock market. As the stock market begins to act peculiarly, Ziegfeld finds himself in a familiar situation of being broke again, forcing Billie to work to support them. Alone and dejected, Jack Billings pays a visit to Flo, hoping to lift his spirits with empty promises, for he too was left penniless after the stock market crash. Feeling like a failure and full of worry, Flo becomes ill and is left only to reminisce on the successes of yesterday in his apartment, illuminated by the Ziegfeld theatre sign across the street.As a fan of The Thin Man series, it is always a joy to see William Powell and Myrna Loy together on-screen. Both acted beautifully, and exuded great on-screen chemistry audiences have grown to expect from them. The Great Ziegfeld proved to be a Wizard of Oz reunion of sorts bringing back together Frank Morgan (Oz and others) and Ray Bolger (Scarecrow) which was enjoyable. Frank Morgan always commands the roles he plays, even if he is supposed to be cowering and weak, as was sometimes the case in this film. Luise Rainer also played her role majestically, very believably learning about American culture for the first time, while trying to hold on to her French upbringing. The best part of Rainer's acting in this film was that she played the part of a star plucked out of France, to be not initially well-received by American audiences flawlessly. We can see the longing in her eyes to go back to the status she enjoyed in France, yet remain in America due to her love of Flo.You'll definitely want to make sure you're settled in for this film. The Great Ziegfeld comes in at 4 minutes south of 3 hours and it definitely feels like it's that long. The pacing is not a problem at all in this film–it is paced very well; what the audience does experience is the feeling like we are seeing the entire music number being highlighted on-screen. Ten of Ziegfeld's pieces are acted on-screen to show his improvement and increasing extravagance as he moved along in his career; these pieces perhaps could have been shortened without losing their purpose for the film. Despite its length, it is one of the better films of its sort, especially considering it was made in pacing purgatory of the mid 1930's. There was some excellent camera work utilized in the film. For instance, one instance in which Ziegfeld was going broke again, all the marque lights of his shows that were then playing went dim and their signature music stopped. This technique proved an excellent way to bring the audience into the mindset of Ziegfeld watching his master work come to failure. Director Robert Z. Leonard also employs a beautiful compilation of overlays near the end of the film; he shows the disconsolate Ziegfeld in the background while numbers from his best shows grace the screen, all backlit by the Ziegfeld Theatre sign across the street of the producer's apartment. A stroke of directorial genius, I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to achieve that scene in 1936.I would recommend this film to any fans of William Powell. He was splendid in this picture, and I cannot imagine anyone else in the role. This film is also a must-see for fans of the exaggerated numbers of Broadway in the early 1900's. It seems as though the Academy got it right in 1936.

Panamint A large-scale musical biography, going for sentimentalism more than accuracy. Incredible talent by Ray Bolger and others; Fanny Brice steals the picture in a memorable performance. Attractive models, talented chorus girls and guys, and dancers of all sorts populate this spectacular film in big production numbers. And Frank Morgan is delightful in an upbeat, fun performance.The two lines spoken in the restaurant about cheese and coffee are quick and funny. There is some good writing in the script. The women involved with Ziegfeld's personal life are captured in essence, not in specifics; since many of them were alive at the time this film was made they couldn't be portrayed in any detail that could get the film makers sued for defamation. Luise Rainer is very miscast as a French musical entertainer, but she does try to capture the general essence of her character's offstage circumstances. Ms. Rainer got an award for her hard-drama portrayal here, but why the heck do you need a gut-wrenching dramatic style in a musical movie portraying a music hall entertainer? Great actress, dramatic performance, wrong role. After all, she isn't portraying the life story of Sarah Bernhardt here. Extravagantly mounted and staged musical productions are highlights over the sentimental biography. The biography is totally dependent on William Powell's immense charm. To me the biographical parts of this film are shallow and more of a tribute to Powell than to Ziegfeld, while the musical parts are clearly Ziegfeld.

TheLittleSongbird Knowing several people, on and outside of IMDb, who consider The Great Ziegfeld one of the weakest Best Picture winners, that didn't stop me from seeing it anyway. To me though, while it's not flawless and not the best film of the year it was still incredibly well-made and entertaining stuff and from personal view it is nowhere near one of the worst Best Picture winners.The Great Ziegfeld agreed is overlong with a draggy and at times uneventful first half and half an hour could easily have been trimmed. And more could have done with the relationship between Ziegfeld and Billie Burke which appeared late in the film and didn't feel developed enough, almost like an afterthought.However, The Great Ziegfeld is very lavishly mounted, with photography that's both beautiful and clever, sumptuous costume design and some of the most handsomely gorgeous sets of any 30s musical. Other pleasures are the marvellous and very well-staged(without being too overblown) songs with A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody being an absolute show-stopper, a script peppered with humour and heart and the mostly poignant story. Standout scenes were Fanny Brice's charming My Man, Ray Bolger's witty dancing to My Follies Girl, Luise Rainer's heart-breaking telephone(justifiably famous) and especially A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody with its clever photography and perhaps one of the best uses of a staircase in a film. The direction is adept and the performances are great, with William Powell suave personified and especially Luise Rainer who is the epitome of charm and grace, capable of a good range of emotions as seen in the telephone scene. Fanny Brice, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger are all memorable, while Myrna Loy is underused she's hardly wasted either.Overall, a well-made, entertaining and very good film and well worth the look. 8/10 Bethany Cox